It was decided the licence fee will continue for at least 11 years and will be linked to inflation – and viewers will need to pay it to use BBC iPlayer.

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale also said the BBC must put “distinctive content” at its heart.

Lush added that she is not comfortable using the phrase “distinctive”.

She added: “Much bandied about by politicians, the word was mentioned no less than 50 times in the recent White Paper on the BBC. But what does it mean?

“That the BBC should plug the gaps left in the schedules of commercial broadcasters? Or perhaps create shows that aren’t vulgarly popular? Rarely mentioned by the politicians are you, the viewer – the only person who truly matters. From the niche to the entertainment juggernauts, the BBC must please us all. But hindsight is everything, and no one can predict what is going to be popular.”

Jane Lush is now Joint Managing Director of Kalooki Pictures and Chair of Bafta.